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Chiefs and Colts looking for New England

By Nick Szczepanik, NFL review

September 10 2004, 1:00am, The Times

THE New England Patriots kicked off the defence of their Super Bowl title last night, hoping that they can continue to buck the trend towards parity in the National Football League (NFL). Free agency and the salary cap have led almost all the other 31 teams to believe that they have a chance to hoist the Vince Lombardi Trophy, with four teams in the past seven seasons winning it for the first time.

However, the Patriots are threatening to become a dynasty along the lines of serial winners such as the Dallas Cowboys in the 1990s and the San Francisco Giants a decade earlier. Having won two of the past three Super Bowls behind the unflappable leadership on the field of Tom Brady, the quarterback,…